From The Gresham Outlook.

The latest chapter in our chronicle of vehicular violence and the threat of people intentionally driving their cars into vulnerable road users comes from just across Portland city limits in Gresham. And what’s even more cause for concern this time around is that it involves an employee of the City of Gresham Transportation Division.

According to a story published yesterday in The Gresham Outlook, Gresham TD Field Operations Supervisor Doug Holley is under investigation for having a large sticker in the window of his personal vehicle that read, “All Lives Splatter: Nobody Cares About Your Protest.” The sticker included an image of an SUV running over people.

Here’s more form the Outlook: [Read more…]

A car driver drove toward a large group of marchers on SE Powell near Cleveland High School on June 13th.
(Still image taken from PPB video)

I was afraid of this.

For years we’ve been warning about the threat of vehicular violence by people using cars. Now it’s on the rise amid the daily marches against police violence and racism that have been going on in Portland for three weeks straight.

There have been several documented cases of Black Lives Matter protests being disturbed by car drivers intent on causing harm. Below are six seven of them.

— On May 29th someone driving a Volkswagen sedan drove into a man riding a skateboard near NE Grand and Shaver. The incident was caught on camera by The Oregonian photographer Dave Killen.

[Read more…]

Screenshot of KGW-TV video shows Portland Police officer plowing through the intersection in an SUV.

After Monday’s peaceful protest, even more people took to the streets last night to march against racism and policy brutality.

While the protest was largely peaceful for many hours, there were several instances of more aggressive actions. Reporters documented the Portland Police firing tear gas and flash-bangs into peaceful crowds indiscriminately, causing shock and horror at the conduct of officers and anger at Mayor Ted Wheeler.

One incident in particular illustrated how the tension in these protests often stems from one central question: Who controls the streets?[Read more…]

Mike Hilbrandt’s Instagram post.

Portlander Mike Hilbrandt faces multiples surgeries and is recovering at a local hospital after being shot in the arm Tuesday night.

According to a source who’s related to Hilbrandt, the incident started on East Burnside. Hilbrandt was bicycling along Burnside near 12th Avenue when he noticed an SUV in the bike lane. As Hilbrandt passed it, he tapped on the window to alert the driver to his presence. He was then chased and verbally threatened before being shot at Ankeny and 13th. [Read more…]

The Street Trust Advocacy Director Richa Poudyal (L) and Oregon House Rep. Caddy McKeown.

Earlier this month a pair of bills that would give cities across Oregon more authority to set speed limits on local streets got their first hearing in front of lawmakers at the state capitol in Salem.

There was no vote taken on either Senate Bill 558 or House Bill 2702 at the Joint Transportation Commitee on March 6th; but the conversation between advocates, lobbyists, agency staff, and lawmakers was notable. Especially an exchange about “traffic violence”. [Read more…]

Still from dashcam video of a collision on SW 4th Avenue on October 31st, 2018. Watch the video below.

Back in October we shared the story of Mark Dickerson, the man arrested for allegedly driving his truck through a crowd of protestors on SW 4th Avenue. Now his wife Janelle Dickerson is distributing a video that shows the protestors violating several laws. She says one man purposely walked in front of the truck and is now trying to “scam” their family via insurance fraud. [Read more…]

Mark Dickerson.

Family and supporters of Patrick Kimmons, a 27-year-old black man shot by Portland Police last month, protested outside the Multnomah County Courthouse today. They were responding to a grand jury’s decision to not indict the officers who shot him.

The protest took place on SW 4th Avenue and, according to the Portland Police Bureau, responding officers urged people to get onto the sidewalk. As they addressed the scene, a 55-year-old man purposely drove into them. Here’s the police statement:

“The officers contacted the demonstrators and requested they move off the roadway and onto the sidewalk; however, the group remained on the roadway, blocking vehicle traffic. As officers developed a plan to divert traffic, officers continued to request the protestors move to the sidewalk. While officers continued to communicate with the crowd and direct them to the sidewalk, the driver of a dark blue Chevrolet 2500 pick-up traveled north on Southwest 4th Avenue into the crowd of people and struck a protester. The protester did not require medical treatment.

Officers located and stopped the Chevrolet truck and driver near the intersection of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Southwest Madison Street. The driver was taken into custody without incident.”

[Read more…]

Several readers have contacted us in the past few days to share alarming comments made by Portland business owners.

The comments make light of using cars to hurt and/or kill other people.

Tod Foulk has been the producer and owner of Portland Fashion Week since 2005. On October 18th he left a comment under a Facebook post by the Portland Police Association, the nonprofit union that represents Portland Police Bureau officers. The post was about Mayor Ted Wheeler’s attempts to get a handle on recent fights and protests that have led to violence in Portland streets.

Here’s what Foulk wrote:

#TEDWHEELER and his tiny hands cant seem to grasp this situation and nothing will come of it until an irate or hurt citizen fights back. #REGINALDDENNY showed me how to deal with a violent protest and that is to drive right thru killing as many as who will stand in my way

Reginald Denny is a reference to the incident where Denny, a truck driver, was removed from his vehicle and nearly beaten to death in the 1992 L.A. riots.

I contacted Foulk via Facebook and gave him a chance to clarify his comment. Here’s what I asked:

Hi Tod, I’m the publisher of a local transportation news blog. Several people have forwarded me the link to a Facebook comment where you espouse that the way to deal with protestors is to “drive right through killing…” them. Before I share this with the community, would you like to explain why you would say something like this? Thanks.

Here’s his response:[Read more…]